However, I will say that whether your high schooler is a big-time football recruit, an average athlete or a member of the show choir, there are places other than Panama City you would rather have him or her go for a parent-free vacation.

James isn’t even the first 2010 Panama City spring breaker to die from a hotel balcony fall. A 19-year-old Georgia college freshman, a former high school football player, died March 25 from a similar fall. An autopsy has been performed, but results aren’t expected until May or June. Local authorities and hotel managers, though, say there’s two endemic problems that result in falls: either heavy alcohol use and/or the pastime of trying to crawl, Spiderman-style, up the outside of the hotel by climbing the balconies. Two other spring breakers have fallen off of balconies and survived.

The alcohol police arrest numbers for Panama City were actually down slightly from last year, but police have an explanation for that: more violent crime has them more occupied with things other than underage drinking. Panama City police themselves have reported a 144 percent spike in spring break-related crime from the previous year, and they noted having to deal with more situations such as the near-critical shooting of a 20-year-old Birmingham, Ala. man. That crime is going to be difficult to solve because police report, as they do at many sites at spring break when they arrive, a hostile, uncooperative crowd.

[youtubevid id=”RUiJLzoWQtI”]

Some out-of-towners meet the local constabulary.

These are the sorts of problems that caused other Florida cities, such as Fort Lauderdale and Daytona Beach, to take steps to drive out spring break business. However, despite tension from the community and older snowbirds, the authorities of Panama City are hardly ready to drive out what is a major moneymaker.

Well, yes, Spring Break is about the money. So is summer tourist season, the restaurant business, moped rentals, the military bases and every job held by every person in this county.

There are other factors, of course: quality of life and enjoyment and such. But money is a part of all of it.

What is it really about, though, this hatred of Spring Break? Is it about tourists who come down and use something we perceive to be “ours,” to the point that we can’t get to it for a few weeks out of the year?

If, for some, it is a belief we are “promoting” dangerous activities with no regard for safety, I’d suggest that is naïve.

College-age kids die tragic deaths, they do it year-round, and they don’t have to come to Panama City Beach to find a balcony.

The message I get from that column is, “Hey, college kids! If you’re going to die a stupid, alcohol-soaked death, at least come to Panama City and drop some coin before you go!”

More details are expected to come in Matt James’ death, such as whether alcohol was involved. Regardless, it’s a horrible thing that’s happened. Though I hope James at least the courtesy to frequent some of the Panama City News Herald’s advertisers while he was there.

UPDATE, 3 p.m. CT, April 3: Panama City police, in a Saturday afternoon news conference, said witnesses described the 6-foot-6, 290-pound Matt James as drunk and “belligerent” before his fatal fall from a fifth-floor Days Inn balcony at 6:30 p.m. April 2. From the Cincinnati Enquirer, which covered James when he was a star offensive lineman at St. Xavier High School:

At one point, police said, he went out to the balcony to argue with guests in a neighboring room, leaned over and fell. Police believe there were adult chaperones, although it was unclear where they were when the accident happened.

Police also said his death appeared to be from blunt force trauma, although the official cause, along with toxicology results, may not be released for another six to eight weeks.

2 Responses

Three phrases that do not belong in the same sentence: “High schoolers,” “parent-free,” “spring break.” The out of control drinking problem in college begins in high school. At the risk of sounding too much like Charles Barkley, it’s time parents stopped worrying so much about the failures of Tiger Woods as a role model and paid more attention to the decisions we make about raising our kids.

Even with chaperones, spring break in Panama City beach is not a place for a 17 year old to be. What can they do other than hang out on the beach?

These ‘chaperones’ probably thought they were being cool by providing alcohol for an underage hotel party, but now some of them are hopefully going to jail.

A good parent would have said “no, you’re not going to florida for spring break. You are 17 years old.”

A drunk, belligerent monstrous in size 17 year old is arguing with everybody, goes out on the balcony to even argue with the people in the next room and falls over the railing, falling 5 stories to his death. Very sad, yes. Crushing to his parents. But his parents should have been his parents and said no, you’re not going.

As sad as this story is, it doesn’t make the top 10,000 in things that were actually sad. Innocent people were killed, robbed and raped all over the U.S. A 17 year old getting drunk and basically killing himself sadly gets more news coverage just because he played football.